‘Thanks Liberals’: How a California court made it possible for squatters to turn a $4.6 million Beverly Hills mansion down the street from LeBron James' home into a party house

These squatters weren’t poor Angelenos who couldn't afford rent in one of the most expensive cities in the U.S.. They were grifters who saw the opportunity to use a neglected mansion to give the appearance of wealth and throw massive parties. A January report from The Real Deal said the 5,900-square-foot home was listed for $4.6 million.

The fact that they could con their way into the “most exclusive Zip code in America” shows that expensive neighborhoods may also see squatting incidents.

What happened?

According to the New York Magazine story, Morgan Gargiulo, an aspiring actor, created a fake lease, moved into a mansion and didn’t face any legal consequences for his actions.

Gargiulo threw wild parties five nights a week. He charged between $500 to $1,500 for entry to these dos with rave lights, a Warhol-style print, and a disco ball. He put out Moroccan-inspired poufs and rugs downstairs to give the appearance of a lounge.

Gargiulo was living there with his fiancée and girlfriend, as well as other friends. He even started renting out bedrooms for $150 to $300 a night. But people who booked the rooms showed up to find nothing available in the four-bedroom, six-bathroom mansion. At one point, Gargiulo even let people stay there in exchange for cleaning the house.

Peeved by the late-night revelry, the neighbors confronted Gargiulo, who politely informed them he had a lease. They called the police, got a private investigator to wage a “maximum pressure” campaign and went to the press. Yet nothing happened.

The squatters eventually got sued for eviction in January this year. After it became clear the judge was not going to side with them, they made an agreement with the current owner to leave in February.

How did this happen?

The absence of an owner willing and incentivized to initiate an eviction appears to have allowed Gargiulo and his housemates to enjoy a long stay.

The mansion was seized by the court amid a legal battle over its ownership between multiple parties. Its former owner had been indicted in a medical fraud scam, and a judge issued an order to sell the house to pay restitution to victims of the fraud scheme. This is when Gargiulo found it and did a tour. It's unclear how he moved in.

When a real estate agent with the listing was locked out, he called the cops on the squatters and was told there was nothing they could do. Gargiulo claimed he had a lease — it was a civil matter.

An unnamed movie producer from the neighborhood also called the cops, but Gargiulio showed them a piece of paper with no address, no amount, and no term of agreement. It just had two boxes on it: one with his own name and another, labeled “landlord in possession,” with the name Giovanni Arcore.

While the neighborhood text group chat was blowing up over the news about Gargiulo’s antics, residents heard that someone from the defense attorney’s office had been informed about the squatter situation and said, “Squatters have rights.”While the neighborhood text group chat was blowing up over the news about Gargiulo’s antics, residents heard that someone from the defense attorney’s office had been informed about the squatter situation and said, “Squatters have rights.”

“Welcome to California,” one neighbor wrote in the group chat. “Thanks Liberals.”

According to the New York Magazine story, "The efforts to convince the court in charge of the mansion that the squatters presented a safety threat were being ignored for reasons the neighbors couldn’t fathom. They had no idea why, if 1316 was the property of the state, California couldn’t just evict their tormentors."